Chapter One

It was tense on the ship. I couldn't count how many nervous soldiers Blue Team and I ran past on our way to the bridge.

We were aboard the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn of the Seventh Fleet, headed for what was sure to be a dangerous fight with a massive Covenant fleet.

The door slid opened for us. We were greeted by a short African woman with close-shaven hair. "Blue Team, good."

She looked up at me. Her eyes narrowed.

"You're not a SPARTAN," she said in an almost-accusing tone.

I shook my head. "No, I'm Tawny Clark, ma'am."

"Ah." That explanation soothed her a bit. "Commander April Orenski of the Forward Unto Dawn. You'd better buckle in, cuz we're about to follow that fleet."

She was referencing the massive Covenant fleet that had appeared over Earth, of course. They were all moving through a slipspace portal that would take them to the Ark.

From there, they could activate every the entire Halo Array and destroy sentient life all over the galaxy.

Commander Orenski turned to face the viewport as we drew ever closer to the portal. Her hands were clasped behind her back and her shoulders were taught.

She glanced up at the SPARTANs beside her. "It's good to see you again Chief, Kelly."

"Likewise, ma'am."

"And Fred."

He nodded.

So they'd met before. Most of them, anyway.

When she remembered their previous encounter, it brought echoes of terror. Confusion. Loss.

What had she been through?

She wasn't very old; around John's age. She couldn't have been older than 25.

I had bigger things to worry about.

The ship ahead of us, the UNSC Aegis Fate, disappeared into the portal. We were next.

We touched the portal.

Everything went black for a moment, before we re-emerged over a massive, flower-shaped world. My breath escaped my body; it was gorgeous. The ring worlds were breathtaking, but this was on an entirely separate level.

"Where are we?" the Commander asked.

The shipboard AI, Hogun, pulled up a map of the galaxy. We were highlighted in a red square beyond the edge.

"We're not within our galaxy anymore, Commander," Hogun said.

There was an explosion behind us. So massive that the entire ship tremored.

The Commander turned. "LT, status!"

"That was the Chioglossa, ma'am."

"Damn." Her lips pursed in bitter grief. "It's just us and the Fate now. Reinforcements are at least three hours from Earth."

"What are we going to do?" I looked down at her.

"Blue Team is going to clear us an LZ," she decided. "I'm sending you with a company of marines under Sergeant Major Johnson. Get down to Hangar B. Dismissed."

They saluted before walking out of the bridge.

The hallway was full of soldiers. Every one moved with purpose and, almost, desperation. For good reason.

The Covenant had been on Earth for months, distracting us from their excavation project a scarce several miles from New Mombasa.

The Covenant, who wanted us dead, had successfully snuck a massive task force onto the surface of Earth, our home planet, and unearthed a massive Forerunner artifact. And the entire time we had been dumb to their efforts.

But I was nervous about more than that. The Domain was weak here, so far from our galaxy, but it was drawing itself up to warn me about...something.

I moved next to John, glancing up at him. "Something big is going to happen."

He nodded once; he could feel it too. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

"No." I shook my head. "But i- but it's big."

We emerged into the hangar. The full Pelicans, loaded with marines chomping at the bit to get down and fight, were hard to miss.

So was the loud Sergeant Major beside them. "You sure took your time, Chief. Come on, men, we're moving out!"

Blue Team split up, with Kelly and Fred on the first Pelican. Linda took the second one, and John and I climbed into the third and final Pelican.

Johnson walked in after us and made his way into the cockpit.

"Truth's ship isn't taking part in the attack," Commander Orenski noted. "So he must be on the ground."

The marines sitting in the Pelican stared at John. They didn't like him, personally, but they were glad he was here. They would be fools to turn away the massive tactical advantage that was a SPARTAN, and they knew it.

Everything jerked when we dropped down out of the ship.

It jolted me nearly off of my feet. I grabbed John's arm for support. He returned the grip, his hand wrapping around my left arm just below the elbow.

"Now I know why no one else is standing." I grabbed a handle.

"You can magnetize your boots to the floor."

"Oh, right." I glanced down at my feet.

Sure enough, when I skimmed through the suit's functions, there was an option to magnetize them.

I activated it, experimentally trying to lift my foot off of the Pelican's floor. I could, but it was difficult. I felt an option to increase or decrease the magnets' strength.

As we came even closer to the ground John reached above a marine's head, pulling down a rifle.

He shoved a mag in and faced the ramp just as it lowered.

I walked up behind him, gazing down at the endless white sand. Off in the distance was a mountain range that cupped the open desert.

"It's beautiful," I breathed.

"Get ready to move, marines!" Johnson sounded eager to get out and fight. "Priority one; secure a Landing Zone for the Commander's frigate. Keep your eyes and ears open. We need all the intel we can get."

The Pelican hovered over a rocky outcrop.

"Go, go, go!" Johnson cried.

John was the first one out.

I landed beside him as marines piled out. The other Pelicans unloaded their men and the rest of Blue Team.

We ran underneath a stone archway. Blue Team was first, and I was actually able to keep up with them. They were keeping themselves at a speed the marines could keep up with, and in my suit I found that speed perfect.

I was constantly feeling about for other sentient beings. After being snuck up on, and kidnapped, on Installation 05, I made a habit to be aware of who was near me.

There were Covenant forces ahead.

"They're right around the corner," I warned through the Company's comm channel.

John nodded in acknowledgement.

We rounded the corner and the SPARTANs sprang into action, shooting through Sangheili and Brutes and all other manner of alien.

I lifted a Kig-Yar up into the air before he could shoot Linda. A marine saw the easy target and riddled the creature with bullets.

I let the body drop, sending out a massive pulse. Three Brutes were shoved over the edge of the cliff, undoubtedly to their deaths. I couldn't find it in myself to feel bad for them for more than a brief moment.

An Unggoy threw a grenade at Fred, who'd run out to engage a Sangheili in hand-to-hand.

I encased the explosive in a bubble of ultrasound, throwing it over the edge of the cliff. I heard it explode far below us.

We finished off the Covenant soldiers quickly enough. But this was only one group, and we had many others to eliminate before we could call the job complete.

So we pressed on.

The pathway was narrow, but the marines were happy to let us take the lead.

I was just behind John, reaching out ahead of us.

There was another Covenant outpost just ahead. As we watched, hidden behind the boulders, a Phantom brought forth an orange piece of metal. It attached it to what looked like a Scarab.

"They're assembling an AA battery," Linda murmured.

"That thing'll tear the Dawn apart," one marine whispered harshly.

"Linda," John turned to face her, "take out as many targets as you can."

"Affirmative." She pulled out her rifle, taking careful aim. Three soldiers fell before they even knew they were being fired on.

John held his hand out to a marine. "I need a grenade."

Before I could ask what he was planning, he turned to face us.

"Blue Team, cover me," he ordered.

I bit back a protest as he made a break for the Covenant camp.

If I said something now I might distract him. Then he really would die.

I watched with no small degree of fear as he ran through the camp, avoiding enemy fire, and climbed the leg of the AA emplacement. Fred, Kelly, and Linda laid down heavy cover fire. Within less than a minute, every single Covenant soldier was dead.

That didn't mean John was safe. He stuck the grenade to the belly of the gun and dropped, running towards us like a bat out of hell.

He wasn't going to make it in time.

My heart in my throat, I surrounded the anti aircraft gun in a dome of ultrasonic waves. The air around it rippled.

The explosion was jarring. My body seized as I struggled to contain it. I groaned heavily, forcing myself to keep my hold on the explosion for just a few moments more.

John skidded to a halt beside us and I relinquished control, sagging heavily. "Oh, thank god."

The explosion had mostly died by the time I let go, and it was safe to pick our way down the incline that the path brought us to.

We made our way to a passageway through the cliffside. It would lead us to the other side of the mountain.

"You'd better hurry, Chief, the Dawn can't take much more of this. Find a place to put us down."

John didn't respond to the Commander, but I could feel his resolve strengthen even more. He was going to get this done no matter what.

Which was good, because I could sense someone invisible creeping up behind us in the tunnel.

The Arbiter.

I knew he was sent to kill us. He wouldn't leave this battlefield unless he died, or he had killed us.

We needed him, though. The Domain told us he would be the one to disassemble the Covenant.

He couldn't die. And I didn't want us to die, either.

I knew what I had to do.

"John."

He turned his head to face me.

"Promise me, no matter what, you're going to finish this fight."

He nodded. I could feel his uncertainty; he didn't know where I was going with this.

"Good. And, please keep my helmet safe."

I pulled it off and handed it to him. I was terrified, a bit nauseous, but determined. The Domain wasn't warning me, no, it was bolstering me.

This was what I had to do.

The Arbiter wouldn't leave unless he had a reason, and capturing me was a pretty good reason.

I broke off from the group, pretending my ankle was bothering me. I rolled it once, hearing the symphony of cracks through the armor. It didn't hurt - my ankle just did that, thanks to my EDS - but it would certainly sound painful.

I played it up, leaning heavily against a rock. Surrounding myself in a bubble of ultrasound, I floated myself atop the boulder and pulled my right ankle up onto my lap.

I looked down at it studiously, hopefully looking dumb to my surroundings.

The group moved out of sight. John was most displeased about it, but he could feel the Domain just the same as me. He knew, whatever I was doing, it was the right thing.

The Arbiter crept closer. Silently approaching from a mere five feet.

I rolled my ankle again, playing up a wince as it cracked.

Something hit my left jaw, hard. My vision went black and I slumped into an invisible arm.

oOOOo

It was dark aboard the ship. But I wasn't in the brig.

That was hardly a comfort. My entire body was sore from being still for so long; my suit had frozen without my mind in its systems. It had only just loosened up, because I was awake. And my stomach...

I was starving. My stomach felt like there was a pit where it was supposed to be. And there was some desperate, clawed beast ripping at the edges of the pit.

I curled in on myself with a moan. But I couldn't comfort myself; my hands were bound behind my back by unforgiving metal shackles.

Then I remembered myself. My situation. I straightened up on my knees and looked around.

I was in a crowded, busy room. There were two Sangheili; the Arbiter and a tall one with white armor. Two of his mandibles were missing, on the left side.

I was in the bridge of the ship.

"It seems our captive has awaken," the battle scarred Sangheili said.

He was so big. I was distinctly aware of my hands, cuffed behind my back. I was absolutely weak and at the whims of this massive warrior.

"Will you now use your powers, human?"

I glanced around. There were lenses on me. They were still trying to figure me out.

I couldn't be afraid of that anymore.

I slipped lightly into the white-armored soldier's mind. Rtas 'Vadumee, a very high-ranking Covenant commander. A Shipmaster, in fact.

He was important in all of this. The Domain didn't tell me how, only that he was.

He stood, looking to the Arbiter who was behind me. "I will go with you to present her to the Prophet of Truth."

"Of course, Shipmaster." The Arbiter bowed his head.

I felt a hand on my wrists, tugging me up. I said nothing, not even when the action strained my arms, and walked where he led me.

I had to find a way to show them the truth about their Great Journey.

Would they believe me? Even if I spoke directly into their minds, they could always dismiss it as a trick.

Their beliefs were strong, I could feel. Ingrained in their minds since childhood. Their beliefs were so much a part of them...they were more indoctrinated than even the SPARTAN IIs were to the UNSC.

I needed something else. Some proof, to show them that the Great Journey was horrible and false.

"The Prophet will be his own undoing."

My head shot up.

There, just around the corner, was a floating being. An Engineer. He'd spoken directly into my mind.

I nodded to him before dropping my head again.

The Sangheili were silent behind me, the Arbiter's grip on my wrists unforgiving.

We loaded into a Phantom. I was sat in the floor, with a pair of Sangheilis' guns trained on me.

I glared up at them, knowing I could take them out if I needed to.

It was a quick journey to the surface.

Wherever we were, it hummed with ancient energy. The Domain was weak here, but the Forerunner presence strong. It was like a hypnotic melody that drew me in.

"Move, human." The Arbiter shoved me forward.

I bit back a wince, keeping my head down as we walked through a massive building.

I glanced back at them. "Can't you tell the Prophet is lying? There is no Great Journey, you're going to kill us all!"

"Silence! I will not listen to this heresy." Rtas 'Vadumee's voice was hard.

We walked into a large, round room. The Prophet of Truth was there, surrounded by his Honor Guard.

They were all Brutes. This filled both Sangheili with a righteous fury, I noticed, though neither of them gave the slightest hint to their indignation.

The Prophet, a massive being in a floating chair, turned to face us.

The Arbiter shoved me down to my knees in front of him.

"What have we here?" Truth looked down on me with a predatory look in his eyes.

oOOOOo

Author's Note: Here's Chapter One of the third book! This book is my favorite by far! I hope you guys enjoy it!

And as always, I love you guys! :)

(Edited for clarity and grammar 4/29/2020)